2020 Strategic Plan

Faculty of Arts and Education

Our plan builds on the excellent work of Faculty carried out over many years, and it draws on the many learnings from that work.

A good plan will be informed by the knowledge and experience of its creators, and its chances of realisation depend on the commitment and capacity of its implementers. The creators and implementers of this plan are Faculty members, and it reflects our knowledge and experience, our capacity and commitment – a commitment to continuous improvement in the work we do in teaching, research and community engagement.

We do this because we know our work is so important in shaping the world. We know the power of education in transforming individuals, and – through the people they become and the work they do – benefiting many others beyond them. We know the impact of relevant and rigorous research that builds our knowledge in every field of human endeavour or concern. And we know that we can only help to shape the world if we are properly connected with the world, with its communities, organisations, businesses and governments at local, national and We are also committed to fostering our people and culture in international levels.

This can be seen in the way our plan spells out how teaching learning, research and engagement will occur.

The Faculty plan for teaching and learning seeks to focus on the quality of the learning experience for our students, in the context of the life they have lived prior to studying, the life they live outside their studies and their future life when their studies are complete. It seeks to properly recognise and build on their prior learning, to address the reasons why students underperform or don’t complete their courses, and to ensure that readmission processes are fair and reasonable. The plan seeks to connect this learning to the world within which this learning will be applied, for example, by moving toward more authentic assessment methods, and it seeks to ensure that the learning is doable in the real lives of the students, including through digital and other flexible learning options.

The Faculty plan for research and innovation recognises the importance of collaboration – collaboration across disciplines, between research and teaching staff and projects, and with the broader community and industry. It wants Faculty research to have a presence in the public square, that is, in public discourse and policy development. It seeks to ensure that research is innovative, that it has impact in the world and, where appropriate, that it can be commercialised, while at the same time maintaining the highest ethical standards.

This focus on collaboration and connection with the world reflects the Faculty commitment to engagement and partnerships. The Faculty is proud of its global reputation built upon robust local partnerships and service to community. Our commitment is to grow links with industry, government and community by ensuring we are approachable, accessible and efficient. Our partnerships greatly enhance our capacity to deliver phenomenal student experiences and impactful research.

a workplace environment that is collegial, collaborative, safe and satisfying for our students, staff, alumni and partners. We and recognise that the Faculty is just one part, but an important part, of its members’ lives, and we see the diversity of our identities, backgrounds, views and experiences as a source of great strength, enabling us to engage in robust and considered debate about solutions to the big challenges of our time.

Alfred Deakin Professor Christine Ure Executive Dean, Arts and Education

From the Executive DeanI have great pleasure in presenting the Faculty of Arts and Education 2020 strategic plan.

AcknowledgementWe acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of our lands and waterways.

We pay respects to Elders past, present and emerging. Deakin campuses are built on the traditional lands of the Wadawurrung people of the Geelong region, the

Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung people of the greater Melbourne region, and the Gunditjmara people of the Warrnambool region.

Acknowledging, building and sustaining understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians starts with recognition that these lands have been the home of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples for

many thousands of years.

Universities have a special part to play in reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians. Deakin welcomes the responsibility of educating the next generation of ambitious

First Nations thinkers, alongside our commitment to promoting issues of social justice and human rights.

The Faculty acknowledges its special role in the preservation and promotion of Indigenous knowledges in partnership with the National Indigenous Knowledges, Research and Innovation Institute.

FACULTY OF ARTS AND EDUCATION 32 DEAKIN UNIVERSITY

Our students

16,478 Cour se enrolments

15,022 Domestic students

1,456 International students

11,964 Undergraduate students

561 Higher degree by research students

3,897 Postgraduate students

56 Non-award course enrolments

For every 100 domestic students there are:

2 who are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander

11 who have some level of disability

15 who were born overseas

69 females

2 from a non-English speaking background

14 from low socioeconomic areas

23 from a regional or remote location

About the Faculty

Our research (2018)

$7.3mIncome

584.5Staff

384.1Academic staff

34HDR completions

164Professional staff

Our workforce are:

63.3% female

3% Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander

19% born overseas

19% born after 1980

Staff satisfaction

85% have good working relationships with their colleagues

94% are passionate about the work they do

87% are proud to work at Deakin

Our finances

$195.5m operating income

Our staff (FTE)

FACULTY OF ARTS AND EDUCATION 54 DEAKIN UNIVERSITY

Our teaching and learning will ensure that all Arts and Education courses provide a challenging and inspiring diversity of ideas for prospective students. We will do this by ensuring all Arts and Education course descriptions in our portfolio communicate clear, compelling and accurate information about our courses, pathways to employment, career opportunities, and details relevant for application. Our courses, units and andragogic practices are research-led.

Specific initiatives will include:

Reviewing our Course Portfolio to facilitate better medium 1

and long term course strategies

Reviewing the quality of course information against a set 2

of agreed quality standards

Reducing the number of pipelining and underperforming 3

courses

Our teaching and learning will provide premium learning and assessment experiences that are supported by highly capable staff and effective use of digital tools. We will do this by ensuring all Arts and Education students have equitable access to premium learning and assessment experiences, high quality and timely feedback to support learning, and opportunities to engage in active learning.

Specific initiatives will include:

Strengthening the quality of timely feedback 1for learning

Strengthening the effective use of authentic assessment 3

across courses

Providing timely and targeted support for 4

underperforming units

Expanding the provision of CloudFirst learning design 5

across courses in the Faculty

Strengthening digital resources and active learning 6

activities supporting the explicit teaching of threshold concepts across units and disciplines

Our teaching and learning will strengthen interest, curiosity and support for students to enable an inspiring and seamless start and improve retention. We will do this by ensuring all commencing Arts and Education students have clearly communicated information about commencing their course, including pathways and support arrangements.

Specific initiatives will include:

Improving first year students’ transition experience, 1

engagement and retention

Strengthening late enrolment students’ transition 2

and retention

Identifying specific student cohorts at risk of 3

attrition across courses (including Cloud students in specific courses)

Providing better support for students’ readmission 5

to courses

Teaching and Learning

4 Improving Recognition for Prior Learning provision

2 Building staff capability to implement active learning

We will do this by using disciplinary expertise in communication, creative arts, education, humanities and social sciences to explain, interpret and develop solutions to the problems facing contemporary society at local, national and global levels.

Specific initiatives will include:

Connecting researchers to discipline-based research 1

programs and hubs

Growing interdisciplinary collaboration both within the 2

Faculty and the University more broadly

Enabling the development of new SRCs, Institutes, 3

or any other DVCR supported groups/entities

Research and Innovation

Our research will make a difference to the world.

We will do this by socialising a research culture that supports our vision and values.

Specific initiatives will include:

Nurturing inclusion and equity of opportunity for all 1

researchers

Enhancing and integrating researcher development and 2research training

Developing and maintaining engagement with community 4

and industry

We will do this by growing the quality and impact of research.

Specific initiatives will include:

Enabling high-quality research and scholarship in both 1

traditional, and non-traditional research outputs

Developing and strengthening engaged and sustainable 2

partnerships with community, industry and philanthropy

Developing and supporting the internationalisation 3

of research

Enabling research innovation, impact and 4

commercialisation

We will do this by supporting social inclusion, the rights of beings, and the need for sustainability.

Specific initiatives will include:

Proactively participating in, and informing public discourse 1

and policy development within areas of expertise

Enabling research translation through communication, 2

collaboration and partnerships

3 Ensuring inclusive, safe and ethical research practices

6 DEAKIN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ARTS AND EDUCATION 7

Engagement and PartnershipsOur engagement will prepare our graduatefor the present and the future.

s

We will do this by developing a suite of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) activities that provide attractive, accessible and scalable opportunities for all students.

Specific initiatives will include:

Developing innovative models and investing in strategic 1

partnerships that deliver exceptional student experiences

Investing in systems, platforms and tools that enhance 2

operations, user experience, quality assurance and risk mitigation

Identifying grants and bespoke programs that support 3

access to WIL for a diverse student cohort

Our engagement will include a financial and marketing strategy that supports our competitive position in the marketplace and financial sustainability.We will do this by ensuring our marketing and recruitment activities effectively reach domestic and international markets appropriate to all of our courses.

Specific initiatives will include:

Developing highly effective Faculty-led recruitment 1

experiences according to our shared vision and values and which are informed by data analysis

Optimising marketing efforts through a comprehensive 2

course prioritisation strategy

Driving new recruitment channels by increasing 3engagement in emerging markets

Establishing systems for building capacity and recognising 4

the contribution that staff make to marketing and recruitment activities

Engaging with prospective students through ideas, values 5

and challenges that highlights positive student experience and graduate outcomes

Our engagement will ensure that our Faculty, its courses and researchers are respected and valued by students, partners, industry, community and government.We will do this by ensuring our partnerships are selected and nurtured according to clear and transparent criteria based on how they contribute to the Faculty’s sustainability and the impact they have on society more broadly.

Specific initiatives will include:

Identifying, assessing and providing support for 1

partnerships according to the benefits they provide to students or research programs, or their ability to provide robust pathways to recruitment

Establishing country-specific strategies to raise the 2

Faculty’s profile in high priority markets

Our engagement will foster local, national and international collaborations to promote a global perspective for researchers and students We will do this by ensuring activities across the engagement portfolio strengthen our partnerships and increase our local, national and international community engagement.

Specific initiatives will include:

Supporting and leveraging international research 1

collaborations to raise the Faculty’s profile in Deakin’s priority countries and amongst our recruitment partners

Improving recognition for prior learning processes 2

and response times in order to build competitive and compelling pathways for students

Developing outbound and inbound mobility programs 3

that strengthen existing and emerging international recruitment and research partnerships

FACULTY OF ARTS AND EDUCATION 98 DEAKIN UNIVERSITY

Our people:

Acknowledge We acknowledge our histories and our role in shaping the future.

Respect We respect different ways of knowing, perceiving and valuing

Believe We believe in the transformative power of quality education and research.

Engage We engage critically, creatively and collaboratively to solve problems and grow opportunities. We are approachable and tenacious.

Champion We champion our purpose and our students, staff and communities.

Celebrate We celebrate diversity, success and having a go.

Enjoy We enjoy what we do and we have fun. We are a vibrant, empathetic and energetic community of leaders, listeners, thinkers, educators, creators, communicators, collaborators, innovators and advocates.

People and Culture

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